According to ABC and other US media reports, on July 21, local time, the Dow Chemical Company in Laporte, Texas, USA had a chemical spill. Due to the danger of air pollution and explosion, the local emergency department requested Residents within a radius of half a mile (about 1.6 kilometers) were evacuated immediately.
According to reports, at 7:27 am on the 21st, Dow Chemical Company reported to the local government that a chemical leak had occurred in the factory. At about 8:30 am, local emergency department officials issued an evacuation alert. It is understood that the cause of the incident was excessive pressure inside a storage tank in the factory, which caused the hydroxyethyl acrylate to leak from the storage tank valve. The storage tanker may explode if the temperature is too high.
According to the Dow Chemical Company, hydroxyethyl acrylate is used to make paints and adhesives, which can cause severe skin burns and eye damage, as well as skin allergies.
Dow Chemical Public Affairs Director Stacey B. Gautero issued a statement saying: “From the monitoring data, there is no indication that this incident has caused an external impact. However, out of caution, we evacuated our employees and we will continue Continue to work with the Emergency Preparedness Office to establish shelters locally."
At a press conference that afternoon, officials of the local emergency department introduced that the leakage of chemical gases has stopped, but these chemical substances have not been neutralized and may still be gathering. In addition, in addition to the leaked storage tanker, the two nearby storage tanks are also at risk of explosion. Firefighters use water to cool the storage tanker.
According to Steve Dildorf, chief of the Laporte Police Department, at least one residential community is within the evacuation area. There are less than 10 households, and 2 of them refused to evacuate. In addition, students from an elementary school were also evacuated.
